Amara Raja to foray into mobile handset biz

Battery major Amara Raja is looking to enter the mobile handsets market in the next financial year. Taking a cue from the fast-paced growth in the mobile handset market in India, the conglomerate will launch devices through one of its group companies.

"Amara Raja Electronics Ltd will be launching mobile handsets in the next couple of months," informed a source associated with the venture.

The company, however, refused to divulge any further details regarding the proposed move.

Amara Raja, as most other Indian companies, will be sourcing its devices from China and is looking to cater to the smalland mid-cost mobile handset market.

The price range of this category would begin from Rs 4,000 onwards.

"The average 10 per cent growth in the handset market has attracted players like Videocon, Micromax and Spice. There is definite traction in this space," said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.

According to the technology research and advisory firm, Gartner, there are 30- 35 companies in the handset market in India. According to Gartner, the combined current market share of these domestic players is around 15 per cent.

An approximate 12.5 crore handsets are sold in the market every year of which 22 per cent devices are CDMA phones.

Nokia is the current market leader in the handset space with a market share of less than 50 per cent with Samsung being the other notable player, according to Gartner.

Gupta added, "These companies are also investing in their brands and aftersales services that are helping them to make a mark among the price and brandconscious Indian customer." Recently, consumer durables major Videocon entered the mobile handset market. Rahul Goel, chief operating officer (COO), Videocon Mobile Phones, said, "We are looking to add another 15 models to the present 10 in the next two months." The company is targeting the dual SIM phones category for growth.

Goel said the creation of the brand was the one crucial aspect. "Videocon will target the small price segment from a minimum of Rs 5,000 and these devices will offer features that dominant players offer for double the price," he added.

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